1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to systems and processes for automatically analyzing currency objects.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The prior art discloses methods for utilizing mobile communications devices to process a credit card or debit card payment. For example, Square, Inc. offers credit card readers that are connected to a mobile device. (See WIPO Patent Application WO/2011/047034). The card reader is configured to read data encoded in a magnetic strip of a credit card and provide a signal that corresponds to the data read to the mobile device, which then decodes the incoming signal from the card reader and acts as a point-of-sale device to complete the financial transaction.
The prior art also discloses the use of mobile devices to verify the identity of customers. For example, Siccolla, Inc. offers a mobile device with an identity verification tool built-in (See United States Patent Application 20110119141). The wireless phone has a specialized built-in fingerprint sensor, camera(s), and blood sensor to acquire images of biometrics to perform identity verification in order to prevent identity theft and financial fraud during commercial transactions.
Both of these products require hardware modification of the mobile device. The prior art also fails to provide a computer program product and system for use with a mobile device that does not require a hardware modification of the device in order to: 1) verify the user of a payment card for the purpose of preventing identify theft, and 2) verify that cash payments are not used with counterfeit currency. Nor does the prior art provide a mobile device that combines fraud prevention using instantaneous imaging processing of hard currency captured on a device's camera or web-cam, with the ability to count the amount of the currency in an image, and to convert the amount to another currency using monetary exchange rates in real time.